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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1857-E1858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ROFEH INTERNATIONAL--NEW ENGLAND CHASSIDIC CENTER HONORS THOSE WHO HAVE
CONTRIBUTED GREATLY
______
HON. BARNEY FRANK
of massachusetts
in the house of representatives
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, for some years now I have
had the privilege of sharing with our colleagues information about a
very important event that is held annually in Massachusetts by an
organization that does great work in making health benefits available
to people who need them, in the best possible setting.
ROFEH International was founded by the Boston Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Levi
Horowitz, and is now led by his son, Grand Rabbi Naftali Horowitz.
Rabbi Levi Horowitz was widely respected for his expertise in the field
of medical ethics, and Project ROFEH, founded by him at the New England
Chassidic Center, does extraordinary work in making the great
healthcare available in the Greater Boston area accessible to people in
other places. On November 20th, at their annual dinner, Project ROFEH--
New England Chassidic Center will, as it has in the past, honor people
who have performed extraordinary service for others.
The ROFEH International Award will go to Dr. Joseph Upton. The Grand
Rabbi Levi Horowitz Legacy Award goes to Professor Neil Hecht. And in a
special award, the 50th Jubilee of Congregation Bais Pinchas, the
Jubilee Award is being given to the Blechner family, the descendants of
Sidney and Toby Blechner, who did so much to make this organization the
great success it is today.
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the biographies of Dr. Joseph Upton and
Professor Neil Hecht and Sidney and Toby Blecher be printed here, along
with the explanation from Grand Rabbi Horowitz of the Jubilee Award to
the Blechner family.
Dr. Joseph Upton
With a broad background in surgical training Dr. Upton was
originally recruited by Joseph Murray to be the first
designated hand and microsurgeon in the Longwood teaching
hospitals. During the past 34 years his practice has been
focused on clinical surgery, education and clinical research.
His large practice draws patients from well beyond all
regions of the United States and he is known nationally and
internationally as a reconstructive surgeon with expertise in
upper limb surgery and microsurgery and excels in the
evaluation, planning and technical expertise of difficult
problems.
Dr. Upton was one of the original plastic surgeons who
ushered in the advent of free tissue transfers and limb
reattachment surgery in the 1980's. He is known for taking a
difficult problem and finding a better, easier solution. Many
of the first transfers in this region of the country, in
fact, the world were performed by Dr. Upton in the 1980's.
During his few decades on staff he was an active
participant in the gross anatomy course at the Harvard
Medical School. Dr. Upton continues to perform many flesh
dissections and teaches yearly flap dissection courses. He
has always been eager to take new and some old technologies
directly to patient care. In the operating room he is known
for his innovative approaches, which incorporate old and new
ideas with new technologies.
As an educator he has functioned at many levels in his
daily routines and usually has a medical student, resident
and clinical fellow in attendance. All participate as he can
teach at all levels. His microvascular/hand fellowship
program is based at BIDMC within the Department of
Orthopedics and the Division of Plastic Surgery. He has given
lectures, keynote addresses, instructional courses and
completed many visiting professorships nationally and
internationally. Original papers in peer-reviewed journals
are evidence of his scholarship. More detailed descriptions
of many of these procedures are
[[Page E1858]]
found in the textbooks or invited discussions in peer-
reviewed publications.
Dr. Upton's research has been almost entirely clinical and
he rarely describes a new procedure without medium or long-
term outcomes. At the Boston Children's Hospital and Shriners
Burns Hospital he has accumulated the largest experience with
congenital problems in the world. His collection of hand
models of congenital malformations is unique. He has had an
exhibit in the Boston Museum of Science for 30 years. He was
an active participant in the Joseph Vacanti Tissue
Engineering lab for 13 years and worked on cartilage and
skeletal constructs and prior to this worked in the Folkman
Laboratory at The Children's Hospital.
Professor Neil S. Hecht
Neil Hecht is professor of law and Founding Director of the
Institute of Jewish Law at Boston University School of Law,
where he has taught for almost 50 years. He received
Rabbinical Ordination from Yeshiva University, a Juris Doctor
from Yale Law School and a research doctorate from Columbia
University School of Law.
In 1980 Professor Hecht fulfilled his life-long dream of
introducing Jewish law into the curriculum of a major
American law school. Through his efforts, Jewish law is now
taught in over thirty law schools, and he was instrumental in
creating a permanent Jewish Law Section in the Association of
American Law Schools. Moreover, its successful reception at
BU Law School led to his founding of The Institute of Jewish
Law in 1983, which was established for the purpose of
publishing treatises, monographs, and teaching materials.
Under its auspices, he has written or edited 36 volumes to
date. Among these works are Jewish Jurisprudence (a two-
volume commentary on Choshen Mishpat, Jewish Civil Law, which
contains the only preface ever written by Rabbi Joseph
Solovetchik, zt'l), The Jewish Law Annual, and Controversy
and Dialogue in Halachik Sources (a four-volume work in
Hebrew and English exploring the nature of controversy and
authority, machloket, in Jewish law).
From 1985 to 1986, Professor Hecht served as the Visiting
Gruss Professor of Talmudic Civil Law at New York University
School of Law. In the 1990s, he also served as co-director of
the Joint Project in Jewish Legal Bioethics, a collaborative
initiative of the Institute of Jewish Law and Boston
University's Schools of Medicine and Public Health. His many
professional and public service activities include serving as
a founding director on the Board of Directors of the
International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists,
chairing the Jewish Law Section of the Association of
American Law Schools, and becoming an elected member of the
American Law Institute.
Among other honors, he was recognized by the Ashmolean
Museum of Oxford University, by Boston University School of
Law where he received the Silver Shingle Award for
distinguished service and the Melton Award for Teaching
Excellence, and by Yeshiva University which awarded him the
Bernard Revel Memorial Award for his contributions in the
field of Jewish legal scholarship.
The relationship between the Hechts and the Rebbe's family
dates back to the early part of the 20th Century. Professor
Hecht's great-grandfather was a close friend and strong
supporter of the Rebbe's grandfather, Grand Rabbi Pinchus
Dovid Horowitz, zt'l, when the latter lived in Brooklyn.
Sidney and Toby (Thurm) Blechner A''H Epitomized What Giving of Self to
Community Means
``V'kol mi she'oskim b'tzarchei tzibur be'emunah''
Toby, daughter of Menachem Mendel Thurm, founder of World
Cheese Company, the first kosher cheese company in the USA,
came to America from Germany. Sidney, fortunately and with
the hashgacha pratis of God, survived six years in
concentration camps and arrived in New York in 1947 where he
met his beloved partner to be of 59 years. They married on
Lag B'omer 1948, and soon settled in the Roxbury section of
Boston.
Though having gone through the fires of Europe, this ``ood
mootzal may'aish'' together with his eishet chayil decided to
look only forward and rebuild what their families and
communities lost in Europe. They started to build a family
and Sidney became successful in the lighting industry. His
honesty and integrity were admired by all he came into
contact with, Jew and non-Jew alike. Toby, meanwhile, worked
tirelessly with the fledging Roxbury community to build up
religious Jewish institutions. Both became active in the
Young Israel of Greater Boston, Congregation Beth Pinchas of
Roxbury, Maimonides School, and New England Lubavitch
Yeshiva. When the Jewish community migrated to Brookline,
Sidney made himself and his resources available to help with
lighting up the makom Tefilah or makom Limud Torah of many
institutions that moved to Brookline.
At the same time, the Blechner family became very close to
the Bostoner Rebbe Z''L and Rebbetzin A''H while sharing
their philanthropic efforts among CJP, Young Israel of
Brookline, Daughters of Israel, Religious Zionists of
America, Yeshiva University, Talner Congregation, B'nai
Brith, Israel Bonds, and many ``matan b'seser'' recipients.
But it was the special charisma and charm of the Bostoner
Rebbe Z''L and his Rebbetzin A''H that attracted Sidney and
Toby to daven at the Rebbe's shul. Toby had a special seat
next to the Rebbetzin and Sidney especially enjoyed the
Rebbe's nusach and warmth on the Yamim Noara'im. They became
active supporters of ROFEH as well as the New England
Chassidic Center where Sidney was honored as ``Man of the
Year''. Instead of plaques on his office wall, Sidney
preferred simple thank you letters as appreciation for the
tzedakah and chessed that he and Toby were able to provide to
others.
It takes a lot of hakarat hatov for people in today's
generation to think back to those who built up a miniscule
Torah community of Boston in the 50's to what is has become
today for all newcomers to benefit from.
Sidney and Toby Blechner were the patriarch and matriarch
of a beautiful family of 4 children, 18 grandchildren who are
Roshei yeshiva dedicated to teaching Torah in their
communities, professionals in finance, law, education,
computers, graphic design and who serve in the Israeli army.
It is therefore most fitting to bestow the ``Congregation
Bais Pinchas Jubilee Award'' in their memory.
This Year We Celebrate the 50th Jubilee of Congregation Bais Pinchas in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Receiving the Jubilee Award on behalf of their parents, the Blechner
family
It is important for people in today's generation to
recognizing and appreciate the good done by those who built
up a community of Boston in the 50's to what is has become
today for all newcomers to benefit from. Mr. and Mrs.
Blechner were dedicated their time and efforts in seeing to
it that the Boston community should be successful and thrive.
Sidney and Toby Blechner were the patriarch and matriarch who
helped to build and beautify the Boston community, of a
beautiful family of 4 children, 18 grandchildren who are to
teaching in their communities, professionals in finance, law,
education, computers, graphic design and who serve in the
Israeli army.
It is therefore most fitting to bestow the ``Congregation
Bais Pinchas Jubilee Award'' in their memory.
Sincerely,
Grand Rabbi Naftali Y. Horowitz,
Bostoner Rebbe.
____________________